As a special treat for eating at home all week and as a means of escaping the 37 degree heat, we went out for a delicious Italian meal at Capello in Balmain. It was very satisfying. We then walked down to the ferry wharf.

In the interest of this travel blog catching up to some time remotely near the present I will enlist a listing strategy.

We caught Amtrak’s Airondrack to Montreal on the 22nd December. It was cheap, comfortable and long. I liked watching the climate get more and more icy.

It was snowing in Montreal.

We stayed at Auberge Espace Confort. The first night, after we had gone to bed, the fire alarm went off. There were no staff in the building. The fire brigade arrive. Our room, with all the electronic appliances unplugged and a lack of fire, was the culprit. We went back to sleep, safe and unburnt.

Walking through the Latin Quarter, the Old Quarter and the Old Port.

Ice-skating at the Old Port.

Extremely good meal at L’ Epicier in the Old Port. They accomodated vegan requirements without a reservation. The best creme brulee of my life.

Contrasted by the number of homeless people and mentally ill having to walk and walk all night in sub-zero temperatures. The lucky ones were in the ATM rooms and subway stations.

Christmas day in Trois Riviere with a Montreal family.

Moved in with S., a friend of my brother, who very graciously acted as our tour guide.

The archaeology museum has an unusual method of incorporating First Nations into the history of Montreal for the 21st century. The level of ‘Hoorah’ left me somewhat uncomfortable.

Saw Black Swan. No surprises.

Mont Royal is pretty. Recommend the view over the city at nightime.

Otto Dix exhibition. Amazing art, bad exhibition space for that amount of people (not) moving through it. I wanted to punch someone after ten minutes of it and one of our party was physically stuck and unable to move for an hour.

Don’t eat at L’Avenue unless you like having lunch after four, waiting in line, doof doof music and waiters who are more interesting in chatting/feeling each other up than serving your meal. We were also unfortunate in that one of our four meals was cold by the time it was served another rendered me queasy for 24 hours. For the love of god, go across the road to any of the other exceptionally good restaurants.